Foreign Minister reminds UN of the importance of its founding principles for international stability

No state could withstand the varied effects of the COVID-19 pandemic nor find solutions alone, Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena said at a virtual event on Friday to mark the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and 65th Anniversary of the United Nations in Colombo.

Gunawardena said that the United Nations’ reaching its 75th year, demonstrated the durability of not only the organization, but also the concept of multilateralism, based on the core principles of sovereign equality of all States, respect for their territorial integrity and non-interference in their domestic affairs. The partnerships fostered between Member States and the UN continued were at their best when based on those principles, he said.

“As we are celebrating this milestone, the world is faced with the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. This virus transcends national boundaries and no Member State can withstand the varied effects of the pandemic nor find solutions alone. The UN plays an important role in fostering multilateral action and mobilizing global solidarity towards addressing this scourge. Sri Lanka appreciates and supports the contributions by the UN and especially the WHO to the global response to address the multiple challenges of the pandemic,” he said.

The Foreign Minister said that Sri Lanka is pleased to have contributed significantly to the work of the United Nations, from its peacekeeping operations to its specialized agencies.

“Historically, Sri Lanka has been closely associated with many of the important discourses in the UN. Sri Lanka served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1960 and as the President of the General Assembly in 1976,” Gunawardena said.

The Foreign Minister said that as one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and as a key member of the Group of 77, Sri Lanka had continued to play a significant role in multilateral deliberations at the UN, particularly representing the interests of the global South.

“Some of the landmark contributions by Sri Lanka in the UN system include: leading the negotiations on the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which has provided the foundation for a rules-based order for the oceans for over 30 years; initiating the UN General Assembly Resolution which unanimously declared Vesak, the most sacred day in the Buddhist calendar, as a United Nations Observance Day and serving the organisation through high-level professionals, such as the Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs the UN and Secretary General of the UNCTAD,” he said.

“Sri Lanka has been contributing to the UN Peacekeeping efforts since the 1960s, serving in the Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, South Sudan, Timor and Western Sahara, demonstrating our commitment to global peace and security. Having acquired multiple skills after ending nearly three decades of separatist terrorism domestically, Sri Lanka’s forces have brought much pride to the country, also being internationally recognized with UN.” He said that even now Sri Lankan peacekeepers were serving in some of the world’s most high intensity conflict regions.

“The theme of this commemoration ‘Shaping our future together’ is future focused and reiterates the importance of collective action for the future that we wish for. Youth has been recognized as the centre of the UN 75 dialogues as the role of youth and the way they perceive the future is pivotal in this context. I recall that in 2014 Sri Lanka took the leadership to declare 15 July as the World Youth Skills day to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people to face the future with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. This date is annually commemorated at the United Nations Headquarters co-hosted by Sri Lanka and Portugal together with UNESCO, ILO and the Office of the UN Secretary General’s Youth Envoy,” he said.